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Folklore and Fables
Tale of the Oblivion's Gaze Written by AyeeDee So you don't believe THINGS can have spirits. Well, they can. The surface of Tier is haunted by the ghosts of things. At night, in the wind and acid rain. The churning sound of gears from airship ghosts. The halting footsteps of ghost's shoes. The nervous chattering of Morse code machine ghosts. Ghost clock. Ghost Floor tiles. Ghost kettles. Ghost MIRRORS. Here's a story about a great Tier actress of profound beauty who, like narcissus in the creaking legend. Fell in love with a mirror. At the height of it all, she could imagine NOTHING more beautiful than what she saw in the mirror. Sometimes she would lie on the glass, naked, kissing and licking the beautiful, cold creature until she shuddered into DELIRIUM. Unfortunately, as time passed, her gorgeous mirror lover went away and was replaced by a crudely faked copy. ( The stitching seemed AWRY, the lines clumsy and unsure.) Brokenhearted and full of FEAR, the actress plotted the MURDER of the mirror. In the end, she used a flask of acid, but the mirrors's final cruelty was to show her a screeching, deformed face frozen in melting, bubbling glass. The actress put a gun in her mouth, and blew away half her brain, and now lobotomized and mysteriously still walking the streets of Tier. Some say that if there were no mirrors in the world, we would never grow old; That mirrors eat time and excrete images. The moral fleeting. The corpse of the murdered mirror was tossed onto the dump where its unquiet spirit hovered in an angry confused dream. Than, one day someone entered the dream of the ghost-mirror and urged it to rouse itself from glassy slumber. Unable to properly reflect, it could only display strange, smeared images. Images, it must be said, with a voracious appetite for TIME. It was nevertheless pleased that the voice in its dreams had given it a name. The Oblivion's gaze. To this day it still wanders, to this day it still feeds. Three Little Hertasi and the Big Canid Written by omndragon Once upon a time there were three little Hertasi brothers. At the reading of their deceased aunts will, they were given a choice. They could accept the enormous endowment their aunt left them or decline it. If they declined then that would be it. They would be free to go. However if they accepted the fortune then their was two conditions that had to be meet in order for them to keep the money. 1. They had to begin construction on a house within a year. 2. They had to return to the lawyer’s office a year and a day after the home was completed. The conditions startled the hertasi and left them in a state of confusion. The will stated: Dear nephews, I worked hard to amass all the wealth I had. I am not sure that any of you are wise enough to keep the wealth I am leaving you. I devised a test in order to see if any of you are wise enough to retain the fortune and survive. For those of you brave enough to accept this challenge, I have hired some one who we shall call The Big Bad Canid to attempt to kill anyone who accepts the deal. He will only attempt to kill you while you are within your homes. If you managed to make it to the lawyer’s office alive then the fortune is yours to keep. '' Upon hearing the terms of the agreement all three of the brothers agreed to take the test. The youngest brother always rushing immediately stood up and proclaimed. “I will build a house that is decadent and expensive.” The youngest brother began construction immediately and paid expensive fees to have a home made entirely out of wood. It doesn’t take long to build a house out of wood. Construction was complete after four months. His home was the envy of his neighbors and was so obstinate as to be symbol of power. The first night after the completion of the posh mansion did the youngest Hertasi receive a gentleman knocking at his door late at night. “Open this door little Hertasi. So that I may kill you and collect my fee.” The youngest Hertasi was dismayed. It was the big bad Canid come to end his life. He took a quaking breath and promptly answered, “I won’t let you in to kill me!” Then taking in a deeper breath shouts, “GO AND TAKE AN ACID BATH!!” The big bad Canid took a deep breath then bent over and lifted 12 pound cannon then loaded it with one hand. The big bad Canid took aim then fired into the house. The shot ripped through the wooden home like a hot knife through butter. After a several booming shoots, the home collapsed in a cloud of debris and dust. The youngest Hertasi was no more. The second brother more cautions then the youngest brother had waited and thought out what type of house would survive the Big Bad Canid. He started construction after his brothers failed attempt. “I’ll do better then he. I’ll make my home out of brick. A brick house will last for ages.” The construction began before the youngest brother had been placed in the ground. The second brother took more care into constructing his home and construction lasted for eight months. The night the second brother completed his home, he received a late night visitor. “Open this door little Hertasi. So that I may kill you and collect my fee!” The second Hertasi was dismayed. It was the Big Bad Canid come to end his life. He took a deep breath and promptly answered, “I won’t let you in to kill me!” Then taking in a deeper breath shouts, “GO AND TAKE AN ACID BATH!!” The big bad Canid took a deep breath then bent over and lifted a 12 pound cannon then loaded it with one hand. The big bad Canid took aim then fired into the house. The shot didn’t pass all the way through the house like it had with the first home, but The Big Bad Canid kept unloading cannon after cannon into the home. Eventually the brick home began to crumble and then collapsed in on itself. The second Hertasi was no more. Now the Oldest brother was the wisest of all the brothers. He researched what materials and what layout would make his home strong enough to withstand a siege. One day before the deadline to begin building his house, he began building his home. Unlike the youngest brother and the second brother he didn’t choose one material to build his home from. He used a variety of metals and stone to build himself a fortress. Nor did he build his home in a simple manor. He built his home with many defenses in mind. The construction of his home took 2 years to complete. He used thick pieces of granite to build the walls reinforced with thick plates of steel. The night the oldest brother completed his home, he received a late night visitor. “Open this door little Hertasi. So that I may kill you and collect my fee!” The oldest Hertasi was dismayed. It was the Big Bad Canid come to end his life. He took a deep breath and promptly answered, “I won’t let you in to kill me!” Then taking in a deeper breath shouts, “GO AND TAKE AN ACID BATH!!” The big bad Canid took a deep breath then bent over and lifted a 12 pound cannon then loaded it with one hand. The big bad Canid took aim then fired into the house. The first shoot didn’t even dent the wall or door. The Big bad Canid fired endlessly into the night. As dawn came the Big Bad Canid was still firing his cannon into the oldest Hertasi’s home. After a week of continuous fire, the oldest Hertasi’s home wasn’t showing enough damage. The Big Bad Canid dropped the cannon onto the ground and sighed. “I won’t fire another shot. It isn’t cost effective to keep going. I’ll go bankrupt long before I can collect my fee.” With that the Big Bad Canid picked up his cannon and left. One year later the Oldest Hertasi waltzed into the lawyer’s office and the inheritance was his. The moral of the story: When you work hard, life pays itself off and shows how hard you have worked. Silas and the Fields of Green ''Written by Shawna There was a young boy named Silas, once ‘pon a time And I’ll tell you his story, all in a rhyme, A story of flowers- the ones you know well, and also of flowers with a wonderful smell. Silas was mean, impatient, and spoiled. He had mountains of toys and his eggs were always hard-boiled. His steam-powered mansion was the best of the best, and how rich he was! (His servants could attest.) One day whilst exploring, he discovered a gate, So excited was he, he just couldn’t wait! He pulled the gate open and stepped right on through, and what next he could see came straight out of the blue. All around him were fields of colorful... things! They looked a bit familiar, and a few bells did ring. It was flowers around him, in a field of green, it was the strangest sight that he ever had seen. “Flowers of color other than deep bronze and bright gold?! What does it mean- these things that I now behold? Their stems are all bendy, and they smell like perfume, they’re genetically engineered, I can only assume! “What’s that in the distance? Coming up the slope?” “HELLO!” it shouted, “I’M NOT HERE TO HURT YOU, FOR I AM A JACKELOPE!” “A Jackelope?” the boy Silas, inquisitively, he asked. “Yes!” said the animal, “And I’m unfortunately the last! You see, dear young Silas, many years long ago, the steam-powered engine became all that you know. “It took over everything that you can see here, along with many other things that I held so dear. Since that time, so many things have been changed- here, let me tell you- let me explain... “You’ll notice around you, dear little man, nothing looks familiar, compared to your home of a can! Notice the sky- how it’s not disgustingly green, and how the air around you is fresh- not obscene. “Beyond that there hill, there’s a river of water, It’s clean and it’s pure and not filled up with slaughter. Do you notice the main difference? Between this and your home? It’s not made out of bronze, gold, silver, or chrome! “Do you understand Silas, why you were brought over here? Once you go home, everyone will lend you an ear! You can tell them of the wonders that existed before steam, your parents will be so proud, they’ll only be able to beam!” “I understand, sir, what it is I must do- I must advocate for flowers through, through, and through!” Silas hugged the sweet animal, and patted its back, and when through the gate, all the way back. He looked up at his mansion, the one powered by steam, and later told everyone of all that he had seen. “Flowers?” they asked, “and air that is pure? We have all that here! All of that and more!” While the adults couldn’t be bothered, with what Silas had to say, he planted a flower, that he had brought home from that day! In a pot it rested, and grew with will, as it sat upon Silas’ window sill. The flower remains there, to this day, as a reminder of earth- the way it used to be. Yay! So next time you see a flash of pink, yellow, or green, it may be a flower- one of the few to be seen! The Three Angels Written by Hidden A great many years ago, there was a very rich man. He owned a popular business and had three sons and one daughter who were favourites of the media, and were often used as examples for 'how children should behave'. Their father, the rich man, loved to hunt. He often went hunting for an entire day. It was on such a day that this tale began. He was hunting a fairy with such eagerness that not one of his attendants could keep up with him as he made chase. He followed this fairy for many hours, not being one to give up easily, until evening began to fall. He was in one of the few areas on Tot that still had greenery, and it was not one he was familiar with. He sought a way home, but could not find a way out. Then a beautiful woman appeared. The man begged her to tell him the way home. The woman agreed to do so. "But on one condition," she warned him as he told her he was willing to do anything, "you must marry me." With anguish in his heart, he agreed - he had, indeed, given her his word that he would do anything she asked if only she could show him the way. So she led him home and remained with him, marrying only a few days later. But the man never could look at her without a secret horror. The wealthy man saw quickly that his new wife did not take kindly to his children. Their mother had died long ago of a strange sickness, and as they were the only thing he had left of her, he loved them more than anything else in the world. He now feared that their new step-mother might attempt to harm them, so he hid them away in a lonely apartment in Dunley Heights. They were several rooms separate from anyone, as the wealthy man had paid the owners a generous tip to keep it that way. And they lived there for many a year, getting visits from their father, and the four began to believe that perhaps everything would be alright. But alas, their step-mother had noted how regularly her husband left her alone in their home, without taking his hunting gear. So one day she followed him, and found where his children hid. The woman, being a powerful magic user, decided she must do something about the children. So that very day, she made a plan. A few days later, when her husband was away at a business meeting, the witch made her way to Dunley Heights. She made her way to the children's apartment, and knocked. The children, thinking that their dear father had come to see them, threw open the door to welcome him. Unfortunately, they met the witch, who used her magic to change them into angels. However, there was one child she missed. The single daughter, named Jessica, had been away, buying food for herself and her brothers. She was the second oldest of the four, having recently turned second. (Her brothers' ages ranged from fourteen to seventeen, the eldest being her twin.) The witch had gone home quite satisfied with her work, while Jessica made her way back to her apartment, finding her brothers turned into angels. Jessica fled from the apartment with her brothers, knowing it was no longer safe. They hid in the Abandoned Factory - though back then, it wasn't yet called the Abandoned Factory because it had only been abandoned for a few months. She asked her brothers what had happened and if there was any way to change them back. Her twin told her, "Our dearest step mother -" he said this quite sarcastically - "has changed us into angels with magic. The only way to change us back is if you, sister, learn magic well enough to change us back. But the witch is clever, and has made it so that if you speak a single word while learning magic, we shall forever remain in this shape, with our memories edited so it seems as if we have been angels for our entire lives." (None of them knew enough about magic to know that the witch had been lying, and even after Jessica learned something of magic, she did not wish to risk it.) The next morning the four were found by a former factory worker. Jessica's brothers were chased away by the factory worker, who believed their the angels should wish to harm her. (The man had a good heart, but he was not particularly educated in the fact that angels meant no more harm than any other sentient being.) Jessica began to learn magic that very morning. A few months later, Jessica sat at Firberg Station, practicing her magic on a small chair when she was found by a rich business man named Mitchell. He was not like her father, being crueler and quicker to judge, though he did have a good heart. Believing her to be kidnapped or something of a similar sort - she was still clearly of a a good family, despite having lived in Dagenham for many years - he took her back to his own house and tried to get her to speak. After finding her to be mute, they developed an odd sort of friendship. Nobody is quite sure how it worked, with Jessica not being able to speak, but they became quite good friends over the course of a year and a half. Mitchell's father was pressuring his son into marriage. He said that the media expected it and therefore it must happen. The problem was, there wasn't anybody that Mitchell was interested in. Jessica and Mitchell finally came up with a solution - they would marry, though it would be purely platonic, and pretend to be the happy couple the media wished to see. They married and Mitchell's father was appeased. Unfortunately, Jessica's step-mother recognized her. Furious, the witch set about plotting Jessica's end. Eventually, she decided on her plan - she would frame Jessica for several murders. It happened over the course of just over a year, Jessica practicing her magic all the while. The plan worked better than expected. The laws for murder in those times were harsh, and Jessica was sentenced to death. Mitchell was quite depressed about this, but he too had seen all the evidence against his friend and judged her unfairly because of it. On the day of Jessica's execution, she succeeded the thing she set out to do three years ago - she successfully turned one thing to another, then back into its original state. But instead of rejoicing, she despaired, because there was no way she would be able to save her brothers. She stood on the platform with her executioner beside her. The man, all dressed in black, ordered her to sit back into the electric chair. She was about to, resigning herself to her fate, when she saw three angels fighting their way through the crowd. She recognized them as her own brothers. With a delighted cry, she leaped down from the platform so quickly none could stop her, raced to them and used her magic to undo their curse. Then she spoke for the first time in three years, telling them of her innocence and how she had been framed by their witch step-mother. Of course, there had to be a investigation into all of this, and the entire thing came out. The step-mother was found guilty and Jessica and her brothers lived happily ever after. Valkyries Written by Hidden The Valkyries are the Choosers of the Dead, or that's what people say. They revere and worship a man that nobody knows. They carry out his orders without a second thought, making them dangerous and, well, slightly stupid when everything comes down to it. At least, that's what people say. The Valkyries are an urban legend. They gain their name from a barely remembered myth from when the people still lived on the surface, and people are not sure whether they are real or not, though most lean towards thinking they are imaginary. They are Clockwork's Men in Black. People who do believe they are real and honestly try to find out about them think that they are, perhaps, revnants. Revnants gone wrong. Revnants who have had their free will taken away while being brought back to life. The experts think that they've been brought back for a reason, though nobody is sure what. They've been brought back because each one has a talent, above the ordinary pitch in their respective fields. (They're right.) Others, the skeptics, believe they are simply the delusions of grieving loved ones who desperately want to believe that their recently deceased friend/family member are alive in some way. However, they cannot explain why people think they are merely henchmen. (They're wrong.) The Demon King Written by Michi Once upon a time when the world of Men was new, there lived a great demon king. He presided over all of the demons, and his kingdom was mighty and stretched farther than the keenest eye could see. All the creatures of the land feared him, for he was strong and cruel. The demon king’s rule was never questioned, and so there was no unrest in the land and life for his kingdom was peaceful. One day, the demon king happened across a town of Man. It was busy and loud in the town of Man, not at all like the quiet of his kingdom, and the demon king became curious and went as close as he dared. And among them, he spied a young maiden draped in silk, of unimaginable beauty. The demon king knew he must find a way to speak to the girl, and so he did. All day he watched her, and as night fell and the world of Man grew quiet and dark, the demon king made his way to the maiden’s abode. The maiden shrieked when she spied his gruesome face, but the demon king quieted her. “Calm, maiden,” he said to her, in his gravelly voice. “I wish you no ill. Your beauty has dazzled me, and I wish to make you my bride.” The maiden was shocked at the demon king’s offer and refused him. And though he offered her money and power and a crown she refused him still. “What is it you wish? Only say it, and it shall be yours.” The maiden told him she would like to fly, and so the demon king departed. All through the night the demon king hunted until at last he came upon a fairy. He knew the fairies to be mysterious creatures of powerful myth, and so he captured the fairy and imprisoned it in a cage to hang ‘round his belt. “Fairy,” he told it, “grant me this: I wish to have wings so magnificent that the mightiest falcon looks bland beside me.” And sure enough, the demon king turned ‘round and found on his back a mighty pair of black wings. The next night, the demon king returned to the maiden’s abode. “Behold!” He told her. “Now I can fly, and I shall carry you through the air wherever you please.” But the maiden was not satisfied. She wanted more. “What is it you wish?” the demon king asked of her. “Only say it, and it shall be yours.” The maiden said that she desired eternal life, so that she might life forever beside her king. Elated, the demon king retrieved the fairy from his belt. “Fairy,” he told it, “grant me this: I wish for my bride to have life eternal and never to die.” And this wish too did the fairy grant. “Now we may be wed!” the demon king proclaimed, and lifted the maiden in his arms to fly her back to his palace. But once in the air, the maiden confessed discomfort, and told the demon king she could not marry one so hideous as he. Dismayed, the demon king thought for a moment, then once again retrieved the fairy from his belt. “Fairy,” he told it, “grant me this: I wish to be as handsome as she so that she might adore me as I adore her.” And the demon king was transformed into the handsomest of human men, and wingless, fell to his death. The maiden, who could not die, stood and made her way alone to the demon king’s castle, where she would come to rule forevermore. The Misty Maiden Written by Chance Everyone knows about the acid mist that hangs above the surface of the earth, and the threat it poses to airships who dare to fly too low. But experienced pirates and pilots know of another threat, even older and more treacherous, that lurks in these parts. Back when the industrial revolution was just beginning on the surface, at the advent of airship technology, there was a pirate ship more infamous and feared than any other. The Black Skeleton, it was called, and it was captained by a man whose name was a curse to utter. The Skeleton preyed on ships for years, slowing the progress of flying machines to the point where no respectable captain would dare sail in The Skelly's territory. The ship was a plague on the skies. But one day, The Skeleton laid siege to a ship that was unlike any other it had previously dared to attack. It had no name, and flew no colors. The captain of The Skeleton knew not the other ship's purpose, nor the nature of the crew. But one thing he did know - the ship fought unlike any ship they had encountered. The battle was long and bloody, and canons fired for three days and three nights. Finally, the other ship ceased firing, and The Skeleton emerged victorious. The captain boarded the conquered vessel, and found with dismay the reason for their near-defeat - the ship was crewed by dead souls, and captained by a demon. The captain demanded to speak with this demon, and was granted an audience. The demon was gracious, and told the captain with an oily smile that he was humbled by their defeat. If he would only let them go on their way, the demon would grant the captain one wish. The captain thought long and hard about this proposal, and eventually agreed. He said that he wished for himself, his crew, and his ship to be immortal - to sail the skies forevermore. Now, the demon was cunning, and gifted with the ability to see the future. He scratched his chin, nodding, and said, "I will grant this wish, but on one condition - you may never again fly higher than this point at which you have defeated us." Confused, but satisfied, the captain agreed, and returned to The Skeleton triumphantly. As he walked away, the demon spoke quietly to himself. "The Skeleton, you call yourself...and skeletons you shall be," he murmured cryptically. Then, with a hauntingly echoing laugh, the demon and his ship disappeared into a nearby cloud. The Skeleton ruled the skies for many years, but eventually the ruin of the surface below forced the people of the earth into the skies, to brave the attacks of the ship as they migrated to islands that had been decades in building, above The Skelly's territory. But there were few attacks on immigrant ships, for the captain was distracted. He was beginning to realize that he had been tricked by the demon. The air around The Skeleton was becoming thick, and the ever-present clouds of mist that formed stung and burned. The rain ate at the skin of the crew and the ship alike. And unlike other ships, The Skeleton could not climb to higher elevation to escape - but neither could the crew die, nor the ship sink. Forevermore, The Skeleton was forced to fly within the clouds of acid mist. The mist ate away at the crew and the ship, until nothing but bone and tattered cloth and rusted chain and crumbling wood were left of them. But still they sailed. Cursing the demon, and disgusted by his own appearance, the captain bitterly discarded the name The Black Skeleton. Instead, his ship became known as The Misty Maiden. To this day, The Maiden still sails the accursed air between the islands and the surface, firing on any ship that dares enter the mist. Some say these are warning shots, warding sailors away from the place that was The Maiden's downfall. Others believe the ship's intentions to be far more sinister. But no matter their motivation, the skeleton crew and captain of The Misty Maiden is out there, in the mist, ready to meet any airship that dares fly too close.